A Blog of Members of the Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section of the American Bar Association

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Meet Brigitte Collier, Outgoing Section Law Student Representative

by Nina Hart

Meet Brigitte Collier,
the outgoing Student Representative to the Section of Administrative Law &
Regulatory Practice. Below she discusses
her commitment to the law, her experience as a student representative, and gives
advice for law students interested in administrative law.

1.
Where do you attend law school and what led you to a career in law? What are
your plans for after law school?

I am a 3L at Indiana
University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis, IN. Being from Haiti, I naturally
wanted to help people and give back to my community both where I live and
in Haiti. The best way I felt that I could do this was by being the
voice in court for those who are not able to speak for
themselves. I have 10 years of experience working in the legal
industry, which validated my passion for practicing law. I learned that
lawyers need to be active in their community, giving back whenever possible,
with no expectations of returns. My experiences have helped me to
discover my gifts of compassion for others, empathy, and understanding as well
as my passion for public interest, human rights, and family law. I also
want to assist people with resolving their conflicts in a cordial manner and in
ways that benefit the interests of all parties involved.

After law school, I
plan to take the Indiana Bar and, hopefully, practice in the areas of
family law and trusts & estates, regulatory practice, or another area of public
interest law. I am also open to practicing business law.

2.
What experiences with administrative or regulatory law have you had?

My experiences that led
to a career in regulatory law happened by chance after I graduated from college. My first job was doing pension administration,
which is regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Shortly after that, I worked for a
hydroelectric power generation corporation working in a variety of areas
including human resources, litigation and real estate. Most recently, I worked for the largest
family-owned winery in the world, regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and
Trade Bureau (TTB). Some of my
responsibilities were to interpret alcohol regulations, help ensure that the direct-to-consumer
events complied with state and federal regulations, evaluate each state’s
marketing requirements, and provide regulatory training for representatives in
each state.

3.
How did you become interested in pursuing a career in administrative law?

My interest in
administrative law stems from my work experiences at the Winery, talking with
administrative law professionals, and my administrative law class. All of these experiences led me to want to
learn more about the field. My work
experiences also helped me realize how essential administrative law is – almost
everything in our daily lives is affected in some way or another by
administrative law.

4.
Based on your experiences thus far, what do you perceive to be challenges
facing administrative law practitioners?

One obstacle is a lack
of interest by young lawyers, which is perpetuated by a lack of knowledge regarding
how many areas of practice involve administrative law. Also, the salaries can be an issue because
most law students accrue over 100K in student loans; therefore, they need a
reasonable salary to pay back the loans and have enough to live.

5.
For law students or new attorneys considering a career in administrative law,
what do you think would be a good way of familiarizing themselves with the
field?

I believe some of the
best ways of introducing law students and new attorneys to the administrative
law field are through internships, job shadows and networking events at the law
schools. Local administrative law
professionals should be invited to these networking events to speak about what
they do, how they acquired their current position, advice on what students and
young lawyers should do if they are interested in a career in administrative
law, and allow time for questions and answers as well as additional time for
one-on-one networking between the speakers and the attendees.

6.
From a law student’s perspective, how would you characterize the dialogue
between academics, students, and practitioners in the area of administrative
law?

From my perspective as
a student, my academic experience was different from my work experience and my
conversations with current practitioners.
My academic experience was heavily focused on learning the case law and
not practical experience. Speaking with
current practitioners gave me a much better perspective on practicing in the
area of administrative law. Most
students that I speak to, including myself, would prefer balancing academic work
with more practical experience. For
example, I would have benefited a lot more from my administrative law class if
I were required to sit in on a hearing and write about what I learned or had
several practitioners come in from different areas of practice and talk to the
class about their roles and responsibilities.

7.
As the Law Student Division representative to the Administrative Law &
Regulatory Practice Section, what were your goals for the year? What do you
think could be done in future years to foster interest in administrative law or
joining the Section? What have you enjoyed most and found to be most
challenging in your role?

My goals were to
contribute to the monthly e-newsletter; hold a minimum of two teleconferences
with a panel of lawyers from the 40+ section committee members; write at least
one article to be published in the Student Lawyer magazine; and launch monthly
articles from interviews with lawyers and judges throughout the country who practice
in different areas of administrative law and regulatory affairs. The purpose of these articles is to educate
law students about the broad range of practices that are available within administrative
law. The articles were distributed via
the student bar listserv, posted in the student law section of the
Administrative Law website, and the monthly e-newsletter.

I have enjoyed being
part of the council meetings and interacting with members from throughout the
country. The most challenging thing for
me was getting a clear understanding of exactly what my role was and getting
students involved. I believe that if I
had had a better understanding of my role when I first started, I could have
planned my goals and execution earlier and been more organized. Thus, I think greater communication between
incoming and outgoing student representatives is key to furthering our goals
and being the best possible representatives to the Section.

8.
Outside of the law, what are your favorite activities or hobbies?

I enjoy spending time
with my family and friends, traveling, running, and reading non-law school related
books.